I’ve been on a roll trying new canning recipes from The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving, and I found another keeper. This time it was Vodka Sauce. This is a really easy recipe that doesn’t use many ingredients. The tomato definitely shines in this sauce, although you can taste the sweet onion and fresh basil.

The recipe calls for paste tomatoes, and while I had some available, I had more slicing tomatoes that I needed to do something with, so that’s what I used. The end result was a thinner sauce and a higher yield (5 pints), but that’s okay. I can always thicken the sauce when I open it. The taste is what matters, and this sauce tastes like summer in a jar.

Vodka Sauce

1-1/2 cups finely chopped onion (about 1 large)

1 cup vodka

1/2 cup water

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

5 garlic cloves, minced

6 pounds plum tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped

2 large basil sprigs

1 teaspoon citric acid (or 1/4 cup bottled lemon juice)

Bring first 6 ingredients to a boil in an 8-quart stainless steel or enameled Dutch oven; reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes and any accumulated juice. Return to a boil; reduce heat and simmer uncovered until onion and tomatoes are very soft. Press tomatoes mixture, in batches, through a food mill into a large bowl. Discard skins and seeds.

Return tomato mixture to the Dutch oven. Add basil. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-high heat for 45 minutes or until reduced by half. Remove basil. Stir in citric acid or lemon juice.

Ladle hot sauce into a hot jar leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band and adjust to fingertip tight. Place jar in boiling water canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.

Process jars for 40 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Turn off heat. Remove lid and let jars stand for 5 minutes. Remove jars and cool.

Yield: 4 pints

Vodka Sauce: Heat vodka sauce in a saucepan over medium heat until thoroughly heated. Stir in 2 tablespoons heavy cream for 1 pint jar (1/4 cup for a 1-quart jar) and desired amount of chopped fresh basil. Serve immediately over pasta or grilled meat. Sprinkle with shaved Parmesan cheese.

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